I arrived at around 11:30pm on a Wednesday (after calling to let them know I'd be running late after missing my flight) and was shown one of the small rooms with a "window"- but not the famous balcony room. It was extremely muggy that night so I asked for a room with A/C, which wasn't a problem. The next night he moved me to the balcony room on the first floor -which is a pretty nice room. The breeze is wonderful, esp since the room has no a/c, just a ceiling fan. Unfortunately someone else had booked that room for the next night, so I had to move again to the last room on the left on the first floor, which had two double beds and a window, which was also fine. My last night at Castro was spent in yet another room upstairs with the large balcony. This was the best, and I suspect, the biggest room at Castro. I did not experience any problems like bedbugs, although the bathrooms could definitely use some renovations-but what do you expect for 16-35/night? They do give towels so you don't need to bring your own, and also a roll of toilet paper to take to/from the bathroom if you need to go. Also, there are some "characters "hanging around who seem to live there on a semi-permanent basis. You cannot beat the location or price though, it is pretty much smack dab in the middle of Old San Jan and you can easily walk to El Morro, museums, shops, restaurant and the bus station to take you to other places in San Juan.
It was noisy on the Thursday and Saturday nights I stayed in the balcony rooms overlooking Cafe Guarinex...do not stay in those rooms if you're a light sleeper as even ear plugs won't help and music was going pretty late into the night. Luckily I love salsa and was able to fall asleep pretty easily regardless. I was traveling solo as a female and didn't run into any problems at the guest house or the surrounding areas.
The guy who manages the day to day does not speak English AT ALL...at least bring a dictionary if you don't speak any spanish.
- Guest House Old San Juan
